Westlake appointed to Montgomery council

Garreth Westlake takes the oath of office, replacing Position 4 City Councilman Joe Shockley who submitted a letter of resignation last week.

Garreth Westlake takes the oath of office, replacing Position 4 City Councilman Joe Shockley who submitted a letter of resignation last week.

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Garreth Westlake takes the oath of office, replacing Position 4 City Councilman Joe Shockley who submitted a letter of resignation last week.

Garreth Westlake takes the oath of office, replacing Position 4 City Councilman Joe Shockley who submitted a letter of resignation last week.

Westlake appointed to Montgomery council

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Montgomery has a new City Council member to serve out the unexpired term of resigning Position 4 Councilman Joe Shockley.

Garreth Westlake was unanimously appointed to the Position 4 slot Tuesday night. Councilmen John Champagne, Kirk Jones and Dave McCorquodale voted in favor of his appointment. Councilman Jon Bickford was once again absent from the meeting and therefore not sworn in for his second term.

“Garreth has served the community as chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission, on the Montgomery Industrial Development Corporation and was instrumental in creating the historical district ordinance,” said Jones. “He’s an asset to the community.”

According to the website LinkedIn, Westlake is an executive with Hewlett-Packard.

No other names were placed in nomination to serve out the remaining 11 months of Shockley’s term. Jones said Shockley, who was not present at the meeting, was resigning because he is moving out of the city. Westlake was sworn in by Municipal Court Judge Margaret Robbins and took his seat on City Council.

In other action, City Council approved the next phase of the city’s Catahoula well which includes advertising for bids on the project. Plans call for a 210,000 gallon storage tank, a chemical injection station, a possible cooling tower and electrical and other upgrades to prepare the well to become part of the municipal water system. The estimated cost is approximately $1.2 million.

City officials also approved well casing to separate the Catahoula well from other aquifers regulated by the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District.

“It’s better to do this early before the summer water demand is too high,” said Bill Kotlan, city administrator. “The goal is to get the well operational by the end of the year and this will be a good step toward making that happen.”

City officials voted 3-1 to approved funding of $25,000 from MIDC funds for the Pioneers of Montgomery statue at Cedar Brake Park. Councilmen Jones, McCorquodale and Westlake voted in favor; Councilman Champagne voted against the proposal.

“I think this is an admirable effort and a good cause,” said Champagne, “but were told this project would be funded by the private sector and it appears they are coming to the city for seed money.”

Jones said MIDC funding does not come out of the municipal budget, but Champagne countered that the funds come from city sales tax revenues. Westlake and McCorquodale said the project was beneficial to the image of the city in terms of quality of life and a draw for tourism.

The next meeting of Montgomery City Council will be at 7 p.m. June 25 at Montgomery City Hall, located at 100 Old Plantersville Road. For information, visit www.montgomerytexas.gov.